Small Eye in the Sky: Special Forces Will Soon Have New Enduring ISR Option

Combating counterinsurgency, conducting reconnaissance, collecting information vital to national security, United States Special Forces conduct some of the most sensitive and critical missions.

The people and infrastructure required for these missions also require constant protection through reliable intelligence and surveillance. That’s why Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] expanded its Indago portfolio to include a tethered option.

Without the tether, Indago 3 flies for 50-70 minutes and can be carried in a rucksack, leading the group 1 small unmanned aerial system (UAS) industry in endurance and transportability. For uninterrupted ISR, special forces can quickly configure the tether, taking away the need for battery reliance.

“When it comes to unmanned systems and capability, size does matter,” said Michael Carlson, Business Development manager for Indago. “We want to make something as important as force and facility protection as simple and effective as possible – the tethered Indago can do that.”

Its payloads provide high resolution, daytime, electro-optical imagery capable of reading a license plate from a 1000-foot standoff distance. For nighttime, it provides detailed thermal infrared that can identify a person, weapon, and other intelligence, such as warmth of vehicle tracks on the surface. This includes imagery in black hot, white hot, and ironbow, an orange and purple heatmap color scheme.